By Chris Vaccaro (C.R.Vaccaro@gmail.com)
Student Editor
Matching society’s embrace of technology, the media business is making a giant change toward the digital realm. USA Today has become the latest newspaper to revamp its website into a flashy harbinger of online journalism.
By implementing more user interactivity, USA Today is feeling out new avenues of online media -- in a different approach from its old site, which many people liked.
The newspaper, the flagship of the Gannett Company, says it is listening to its viewers and readers by offering many different ways for them to leave comments.
Hofstra’s online journalism class dissected the new website, breaking down the old with the new, giving the intricate details of how this website ticks:
New Approach Not a Winner
A revamp of the USAToday.com Web site was completed to change the “approach, not the appearance,” according to editors in a letter to readers last Friday. However, in attempts to give ease to readers, it seems the opposite has been done; letters from readers seem to indicate a number of viewers do not appreciate the changes.
One of the new features offered is a tab system, similar to the organization that has been used by many programs and search engines such as Mozilla Firefox. Tabs are to the right of the main page; a list of top headlines, time-stamped every few hours and a list of most popular stories -- divided by most-read, commented, recommended and e-mailed. This represents a way to easily access what the staff -- and readers -- think is important. This feature is not unique to this site, it is offered by other news sites, such as The New York Times.
The news notes tab offers blurbs of stories. But, despite the editors’ intentions, it’s no surprise that the letter from the editors is “most commented.”
USAToday.com editors claim that they have made it easier for readers to contact their editorial staff -- so why not try it out? With several drop-down options, there is no way to ask a question -- only options like complaints, compliments and suggestions were available. Under the new design choice, where I figured they would most quickly jump on a compliment -- since they probably aren’t getting many -- the confirmation stated that most comments would be answered in 24 hours. Twenty-four hours and counting, still no response.
--By Maggie Biunno (Maggie.Biunno@gmail.com)
Easy Accessibility on USA Today’s Site
USA Today has added a new easy-to-scan column of headlines as well as more in-depth analysis to its website. It also allows you to seek out other news organizations, and what they are reporting, through "Across the Web," which features feeds from several other websites.
A couple of other minor inclusions are a new search engine and fly-out menus to easily group content.
When becoming a member, you can add comments to story pages that creators made to hear the voices of the people. A "recommend" button has been placed on particular stories of interest that other members feel you should take a look at. Additionally, members are encouraged to create their own space where they can message other members, write blogs and upload pictures.
--By Thomas Palermo (thomas.palermo@gmail.com)
USA Today Welcomes Readers' Insights
The new design and structure of USAToday.com incorporates many social-media tools that the publication hopes will increase the flow of communication between it and its readers. The site now allows readers to add comments and participate in discussions about posted articles. The writers of the articles interact with the readers by responding to comments and sharing their insight.
The site encourages visitors to become members of the USA Today community and only members have the ability to comment on articles. Membership is limited to ages 13 and up. Registration is free and includes a personal profile page that can be left blank or filled with information. Members can upload their photos, start their own blog and explore the rest of the USA Today community. Current members have uploaded images of themselves, their pets, flowers, models and have used avatars such as Converse sneakers and Spiderman to add a unique flair to their profiles.
When a member leaves a comment on an article or makes a recommendation, other members are able to view their profile and post comments by clicking on the commenter's name. Although this added social element gives off the vibe of a social networking site, USAToday.com created this feature in order to “allow readers to get a better sense of the site’s most active contributors” and “to keep the personalities and conversation open in a way that focuses on the news.”
USA Today writers monitor how readers are reacting to stories and feature the most interesting comments at the top of the site’s main page. The “Community Center,” is a community blog focused on informing members of newly posted and interesting comments, user-submitted photos and member requests. By applying the concept of network journalism, “the idea that reporting can drive readers and readers can drive reporting,” USAToday.com is seeking to create a community around the news.
--By Remy Melina (remy.melina@gmail.com)
USA Today Adds 'Social Network' to Job Description.
This week, USAToday.com implemented what it calls an improved web design. Although most readers have posted negative comments about the redesign, there is one interesting aspect of the new site: Registered users now have the opportunity to create a personal profile.
The feature, which is easy to sign-up for, appears to be modeled after social web communities like Facebook, MySpace and LiveJournal. Members will be able to post a personal picture or avatar (a graphic image) as well as other photos they have taken. The news website is the first of its kind to offer full interaction: members will be able to post comments on stories, recommend stories, write blogs of their own and message other users. Members will also be able to check other members’ profiles as well as their activity on the site.
Although interactivity is increasingly important in the age of “citizen journalism,” it is uncertain whether attempting to create an online social network within the context of a news organization will do anything to clarify the distinction between entertainment and news.
--By Kayla Walker (Walker.Kayla@gmail.com)
Weather Section Shines on USA Today
While many of USA Today’s fans are chiming in with disgruntled opinions regarding the refurbished website layout, the community of weather section readers appear to be blogging right along as if nothing happened.
Why should anyone who’s considered a regular weather buff complain? The section, color coded in yellow, is not the 42nd link on the left-hand side like that of www.nytimes.com. And unlike the popular www.Weather.com, you don’t need Harry Caray’s reading glasses in order to visibly match the color, temperature and local region on the national map of the home page.
Like any popular division of a news website, the weather section in USAToday.com is far from perfect. Many newspaper outlets often make the mistake of neglecting to transfer the subtleties of the newspaper experience to the screen. For instance, USA Today readers look forward to the animated graphics, located at the bottom left corner at the front page of each section, which are best known for shedding light on common social issues surrounding its respective category.
The weather-site index, which takes some serious digging to find, might be the most resourceful tool the weather section has. It includes beach and ski conditions, weather alerts, radar, satellite and everything under the sun. So get it out of the shade!
--By Ryan McCord (rjmccord91@gmail.com)
News Website Has No Idea How Viewers Feel
According to the new USAToday.com, it is now more convenient to browse the site for the latest news and easier for subscribers to have a say in what is covered in the news.
Contrary to what USA Today may think, viewers could not agree less with what has been put before their computer screens. One commenter gave his opinion and stated, “I really don't like the new format. I find it confusing and hard to navigate. It's also not as attractive and inviting as the old format. USA Today has been my home page for over 8 years. I have just changed my home page to NY Times.”
Compared to other sites, like The New York Times, the USA Today format is focused more on advertisements that take up a lot of space rather than the news. The New York Times website is still formatted somewhat like a newspaper, whereas USA Today just has its news scattered in any particular order.
USA Today may have to go back to reevaluate its website for its viewers because they aren’t happy and it seems the paper is unaware.
--By Karmin Jones (Karmin.Jones@gmail.com)
USA Today – Perhaps Better Yesterday
Beginning early this month, USA Today re-launched their news website with the hopes, according to their "quick guide to new features,” of making it easier to find the sites you [the reader] are looking for, keeping tabs on the news, making multimedia content bigger and faster and, most importantly, by providing users with their own profiles and comment spaces to join the conversation and find out about how others are contributing, according to its quick guide.
Readers have responded, taking advantage of the new USA Today community blog space, to grumble.
While it has tried to renew its online image, USA Today might want to think about going back to the multimedia drawing board.
With bright, off-putting colors, bold Arial-font headlines, blinking advertisements, large, unimportant headers and a focus on reader comments, where major news events would normally be found on other news websites (such as The New York Times). USA Today’s new features, while attempting to be helpful, are, at the least, optically irritating, and, at worst, leave one with a hangover-like effect.
Comments to the USA Today community blog say the new site is "difficult to read," "hard to navigate," "annoying," and out of touch with the "target audience." Don Dodge, a Microsoft business development blogger, said on his webpage that 92 percent of people who posted comments to him regarding the new USA Today website noted they "don't like it." Though this information can not be labeled entirely credible, it does back up the posted opinions of USA Today's own website users, some of whom say they have switched to other news outlets for their daily coverage.
While USA Today should receive cheers for attempting to keep up with evolving multimedia and update its online profile, it is clear that, in many user's opinions, they still have a great deal of work to do.
By Bonnie McKasty (bonnie.mckasty@gmail.com )
To Caption, or not to Caption
USA Today has recently made a facelift to its website. The first thing that struck me was that some photos have no captions. It stunned me, and instantly made me disinterested in the pictures. Since when is there a photo in a news story with no description as to who, what, where, when and why? I decided to take a poll, and see what others around campus thought.
I interviewed 20 people to find out their initial reaction to the new website and the photos (without mentioning captions) and 17 people (eight men, nine women) became disinterested and almost annoyed about it, wondering why they would change it? The other subjects (two women, one man) liked the idea of choice.
The old website provided captions and I checked numerous other websites to see their angle. Almost all of them provided a caption. I juxtaposed CBS News.com with USAToday.com, and felt that CBS was more credible since there was a small description next to each picture that was displayed on the screen.
It seems that my little experiment held a lot of truth and substance to the value of words to pictures. The saying, “a picture says a thousand words” may be true to some, but a picture that makes the news definitely needs explanation through caption.
--By Meredith Frost (mfrosty17@gmail.com)
Viewers Unhappy with Social Features
The new USA Today website introduces social features including blogging and photo rating that entices viewers.
The new features allow viewers to comment on news stories, view stories in order of ranking and most commented and vote for the stories that you like. While the site also includes mouse rollovers, photo selections and interactive graphics, most viewers seem to prefer the old USA Today website. Some believe that while they’ve done a good job including interactive features, USA Today should have made it easier for bloggers to interact. The site has comments from viewers that scroll over the top of the screen, which is unique and entertaining. However, commenting requires filling out forms, and who has time for that?
Hopefully, USA Today will take the viewer feedback into consideration and continue to work on enhancing its site. The site will need to do some more revamping if they want to have continued viewer traffic.
--By Michelle Sobhraj (m.sobhraj@gmail.com)
No Motivation to the Music
The music section of the new USAToday.com website appears very bland. Its main headlines consist of chart toppers, re-living the Grammy awards and hearing other voices from the web. It also gives details about people in the news.
There is neither video nor audio, which is devastating for an important site like USA Today, which should be more in tune with technology. Also, many people respond to stimulus, for contrast, and by way of contrast, there is plenty on the MTV homepage, including music videos and different types of fonts to draw the viewer’s attention.
The USA Today website is very basic and I realize that it is more of a news website than a music website, but there should be some form of incentive to look into music news, and USA Today’s website does not accomplish that.
By Dreux Dougall (dreux.dougall@gmail.com)
One Comment Too Many
USA Today's new comment feature on their website is a hotbed for the public's ideas and gives a new level of interactivity to readers. The recent change in the website simply requires a user to create an account using an e-mail address, something nearly everyone has nowadays, and then simply start voicing his/her opinion.
This works well in most cases, where users express well thought-out opinions, but conflict does arise in some occasions. In one story, a user responded negatively to a post by another user, which sparked a comment-based argument.
While the comment section is letting most people voice well-written ideas, I believe that USA Today may have to go a step further in creating a forum for such discussion, rather than forcing all users to read such interchanges by a small percent of the posters.
--By Garrett Frey (garrett.frey@gmail.com)
A Website's Unworthy Upgrade
On March 2, USA Today unveiled its upgraded website design and added interactive opportunities.
Users of the new site can create a profile page once they become members, and it is free for everyone. Members can enter personal information, photos and create blogs on the profile pages. Users are able to see other members' comments and send them public messages. USA Today journalists have also created profile pages and members are able to communicate with them through messages and blogs.
The website gives members the opportunity to upload their own personal photos to surround relevant stories, which then may be used for news stories on the site. USAToday.com users are able to post a comment on every story on the new site. The website has open forums where users can create their own topics for discussion and interact with other members and USA Today journalists.
With all of these upgraded attributes, you would expect users to be raving, but that is not the case. According to the site's comment page, users are disappointed with the website's new look. Members have complained that the website is hard to navigate and confusing. Others have said that the new design format is not as inviting and attractive as the old one. Members are questioning why USA Today changed its format and made it more complicated to navigate the site.
By Katelin Quest (kquest1@gmail.com)
A Caption Says a Thousand Words
USAToday.com is trying to usher in a new era of online journalism by launching new features on their website. One of these changes includes the ability to move the pointer over four pictures of the top stories on the site and see the headlines of the stories that the pictures coincide with. While that is somewhat innovative, the really interesting aspect of this is that captions for pictures are optional or non-existent.
The absence of a caption allows readers to view the picture without details or any information other than the headline. A caption, the headline and the picture of a story are usually the first things scanned by a reader on a newspaper or a news website. And, in many cases, these short pieces of text will determine whether or not a person will continue to read the article.
Perhaps USAToday.com is trying to cultivate a more-educated reader who wants to know more than what short blurbs can tell them, but this could also be hurtful in that the pictures and headlines need to be even more interesting to catch a reader's attention.
Granted, USAToday.com hasn't abandoned traditional journalism outlines entirely. Once the story is clicked on, the caption appears below the picture, regardless of whether the reader wants it to or not. So, maybe the lack of captions is to keep the site looking clean and less cluttered, but this type of pick-and-choose journalism isn't seen on NYTimes.com, Washingtonpost.com, CCN.com or any other major news website.
It is not uncommon for new websites to offer exclusive online features. Many are now trying to offer news features that are specific to the website, such as blogs and customization features. For example, NYTimes.com has blogs and specific online content. It also is working on a service called "My Times" which would allow the reader to customize his or her own New York Times homepage through their on-site experience. And Washingtonpost.com has "Live Online" videos and a print edition of the paper available to registered users.
--By Audra Kincaid (audra.kincaid@gmail.com)
World Online News Comparison
I decided to compare and contrast the different levels of importance that various world-news articles have over the other in different online publications. I am using USAToday.com as my American publication and the BBC and CNN as my internationally focused publications.
Recently, USAToday and CNN both featured the same headline for world news, focusing on a car bomb that killed 31 people in Baghdad on Sunday. BBC, the European publication, had an article on U.S. President George W. Bush -- "Bush thanks Colombia for drug aid," as its world headline. CNN and USAToday both have an apparently stronger readership in the United States than BBC does, therefore, world news to them would be targeting the rest of the world.
CNN is arranged in such a way that once you scroll down the screen you can see all the different continents with different headlines under them. The BBC also has the same option available. But they still have Bush and three different American articles in their headline on the top. USAToday is the only publication that does not have different continents to choose from. Each story is listed under the rubric "world." I don't aesthetically care for this, I’d rather have different countries or continents listed. It is more organized and visually pleasing to see all options. Another interesting comparison between these different publications is that the BBC is the only site that does not have advertising on its world news page.
Overall, I believe that USAToday is the least organized and the least aesthetically pleasing in the “World News” sector of the website. It should have listed the different countries and continents that viewers can choose from, as the other websites do. It gives people a greater sense of control and allows them to make their decisions on what is the most important and significant article they would like to focus on.
America is a cultural melting pot; we have so many different citizens of the world that live here. USAToday should give these people the accessibility to easily target their focus.
--By Juliette Pariente-Cohen (juliette.parientecohen@gmail.com)
Business at Your Fingertips
On the bottom portion of the business page, which is not the prominent part of the USA Today website, is an overlooked but unique component. It is the “Marketplace” tab which contains a section called the “Franchise Center.”
The Franchise Center gives viewers the opportunity to search hundreds of franchises for sale at USA Today’s free directory of franchise opportunities and businesses for sale, including work-at-home businesses. It gives anyone the opportunity to search and purchase hundreds of businesses. Website users can view the alphabetized franchise directory that includes a brief description and liquid-capital requirements.
USA Today even designs a business plan for the at-home entrepreneur. The home-based franchises and business opportunities on the site have been researched and developed for the user.
After viewing other websites similar to USA Today, there were no other tabs similar to the Franchise Center. It is a unique and interesting aspect that reaches an apparently broad audience of USA Today users. It offers businesses looking to sell a place to advertise and prospective business owners accessibility to many potential companies.
By Kara Meekins (kmeekins28@gmail.com)
